Year 2 - “There is no ‘i’ in Team”
In 2002, with 3 kids under 5 between us, we realised working from home was no longer viable so we moved into the Public Office in West Melbourne. We put out the word amongst our peers and the Six Degrees team cleared us a spot and we moved in to share space with Techne.
The collaborative and collegiate working environment at the Public Office generated a new lease of energy for our work and made ‘Minx Architecture’ seem much more real and exciting. We especially loved the sense of community that the ‘in house lunches’ provided at the Public Office, so much so that we have continued with this convivial office culture at all our Minx office spaces ever since.
Since 2002, Minx have had a variety of homes - above the Red Eagle Hotel in Albert Park (it made knock off drinks everyday far too tempting), Bay Street in Port Melbourne, The Base in Fisherman’s Bend and now at our ‘forever office’ at The Cotton Mills in Footscray.
We have always believed strongly in supporting each other in the profession and enjoy sharing ideas with others in our field. Discussion, ideas exchange and sharing of experience makes us all better architects at the end of the day and that’s what we’re all striving for.
It’s been a pleasure watching our peers grow along with us, in particular, we celebrate the success of our original office buddies and all of our colleagues who have supported us along the way. Success is dependent on a collaborative approach throughout the process. The team members may change along the way, but as long as everyone remembers that there is no i in Team, the end result will be applauded.
Our involvement with A4LE (formerly CEFPI) – Australasian Learning Environments, has encouraged our thinking around the design of educational facilities. It has given us great opportunities to exchange ideas and we have been thrilled to have been recognised in recent years with the awards that this organisation presents. We are looking forward to attending the Learning Environments Australasia 16th Annual Conference in Melbourne at the end of this month.
They say if a business can survive its first year, then it has a good chance of being viable. Fifteen years on, we are still here. We’ve moved around a bit along the way, from above dodgy pubs to leaky warehouses but today we’re loving our bright and spacious spot at the Cotton Mills and we are really looking forward to celebrating our 15 years in practice this September.
